Appliance Retailers Abysmal Customer Service

A new survey has revealed the abysmal customer service customers experience from appliance brands available in the Australian market, with new research finding nearly all of them failed to even meet client expectations.

As reported in the My CX Customer Experience Study utilised anonymous telephone research to the call centres of 22 well-known brands including Asko, Bosch, Breville, Dyson, Electrolux, Fisher & Paykel, Fujitsu General, Hisense, KitchenAid, LG, Miele, Panasonic, Samsung, Smeg and Whirlpool.

The big question is who is My CX.

Ten calls were made to each brand to the various call centres used for different customer scenarios, with four products chosen per brand to inquire about.

From the survey, average wait times sat at 4.7 minutes, with only 0% of calls were answered within 20 seconds, well below industry standards of 80%, with 11 of the brands unable to answer a single call during this timeframe.

Only one brand managed to exceed the industry benchmark of 75% of calls resolved on the first contact, with the majority brands falling below 60%.

Mandy Admiraal My CX general manager was shocked to see that none of the brands surveyed achieved the Grade of Service (GOS) industry benchmark of having 80% of calls answered within 20 seconds.

‘Only 32% of customer issues were sufficiently resolved during the calls, well below the First Call Resolution (FCR) industry benchmark of 75%’ revealed Mandy.

Mandy had expected most brands to receive a passing mark of 5 out of 10; however, only five of the 22 appliance retailers passed.

‘It’s imperative that brands pay greater attention to some of the basics of customer experience.’

It comes as Miele announces a change to its global business structure in response to changing customer behaviours, the rise of digital services and increasing price pressures from competitors.

A statement from Miele will significantly increase its investments in digital marketing and new areas of business, resulting in a saving of $305 million a year.

The move is expected to create around 470 new jobs, with attention being given to digital competence.